Documentaries as a medium have a way to captivate an audience with a thrilling and deeply investigative story that oftentimes lead to great social change for the subjects of the documentary. For example, the viewing of the many true crime documentaries popularized by Netflix has led to a greater re-examination of the criminal justice system and has shown the many examples how a combination of prosecutors and police departments can act for nefarious reasons.
In the community of cannabis reform activists in Texas, one group has become increasingly vocal in both local advocacy and lobbying in Austin during the Legislature Session for cannabis-related bills. Our brave veterans in Texas, exceptional individuals who’ve put their lives on the line for our country and have witnessed the true brutal horrors of humanity, have been a prominent voice for medical cannabis reform in a state with an already large veteran population.
An upcoming documentary produced in collaboration with Blue Cord Farms founder Robert Head and filmmakers The Hustle Hustle Collective and Film4Eyes is hoping to show the legal issue that veterans who use cannabis for medical relief face in a state with no comprehensive medical cannabis laws is entitled “Illegally Alive or Legally Dead”.
“We’re going to discuss everything from the plant itself to what doctors are saying about it, what PTSD actually is. We’re going to move into veterans in Texas and the trauma they’ve been through and how does the cannabis help them and in their own words, describe what it does for their life and body. Then, we’ll be going into how we lost in this last session trying to get PTSD added to this bill. (House Bill 3703).”
In terms of memorable content, the Army veteran turned cannabis advocate/documentarian said the documentary will contain interviews with notable elected officials, some of whom were outspoken supporters of medical cannabis and some not so much, and ask questions rarely asked regarding the general support for cannabis reform. Head and the Hustle Hustle Collective will also capture the jarring and intense testimonies of our nation’s heroes living in Texas on how their conditions from war have been either physically or mentally crippling but also how cannabis has provided relief and hope back into the lives of themselves and their families even though it puts them in danger of possible prosecution.
“What we would like to achieve out of all of this is that we get a larger support of voters who want people in office that are going to legalize cannabis and stop messing around with these frivolous lawsuits and arrests and all this backwards thinking. I’m trying not to use the word “progressive” because I’m not trying to split Democrats and Republicans. I’m trying to put all Texans in a group and say that we as a group should move forward on this.” Head explained.
The documentary will show in a nonpartisan manner the many legislative roadblocks in the way of Texas cannabis legalization and certain politicians that remain strong prohibitionists in the state. But another primary goal of the documentary is to increase the growth of the cannabis advocacy community from solely consumers to those who may not personally consume the plant yet see the number of inhumanities caused by keeping cannabis illegal.
Head mentioned that the majority of filming will take place over the next few months and that the production crew of the documentary hopes that the film will be featured at South by Southwest and the various other film festivals across The Lone Star State to further deliver the stories of Texan veterans who must break the regularly break state law in order to survive, hence the title of the film.
